March 12,2017
A series of entangled tragedies over the weekend led to a 4-year-old girl dying from a blown-up hoverboard — while a rescuer who rushed to save her was mowed down by a drunk driver.
The first horror came Friday night around 7:45, as a hoverboard charged in a Harrisburg home with three girls inside. It burst into flames on the first floor of the house and badly burned little Ashanti Hughes.
Dennis DeVoe, a lieutenant at the Harrisburg fire service, was at a funeral for a fallen former member of the department when the call came in. As he drove to the station to grab his equipment, a teenaged drunk driver in a stolen car crashed into him and fled the scene, officials said.
Hughes died in the morning. The Lehigh County Coroner said the girl perished from burn complications, and ruled the fire as an accident.
At night, Fire Chief Brian Enterline announced that DeVoe, a 21-year veteran of the force, had also died from injuries.
Khanyae Kendall, 19, was arrested for the fatal crash after she showed up a local emergency room, police said. She has been charged with driving under the influence, receiving stolen property, aggravated assault by vehicle and making false reports to law enforcement.
DeVoe’s on-duty death came just one month after he helped pull a man out of a burning house, and saved his life.
DeVoe saw this as his simple service.
